Homecoming
by yoho-hey
Summary: One month after returning from Yamatai, Lara and Sam decide their friendship deserves a lot of catching up time. (Oneshot)
1. Chapter 1

Homecoming

* * *

"Can you believe what people actually write in these things?" Sam outbursted. She was slouched on the bed reading various magazines- probably about fashion and celebrities as usual, with an abundance of open bags of junk food accompanying her. Her ankles were crossed and she was creasing her eyebrows angrily from whatever she was reading.

I assumed she was just thinking out loud again since she usually never gave me a chance to reply to her, and when I did, she wasn't listening.

It was about 9:00 at night, and it had already begun to get dark. I looked back at her from my desk. "What are you reading _now_, Sam?" I asked.

She had been flipping through those for about an hour now, and kept commenting on everything and telling me about it, although I clearly had no interest in it. I thought it was cute, though.

She shrugged and didn't look up at me, continuing to flip through the pages of the magazine. "Just a whole lot of rumor crap." She must've remembered how I am usually disinterested in that stuff, although I try not to show it, but I could tell she summarized her answer and held in whatever she really wanted to say about it.

It had been one month since we safely returned home from Yamatai, and sometimes I even forgot that all of it ever happened. Before we left, Sam and I did exactly this almost every night. We had been living together in this apartment ever since we got out of college and had enough money to afford it. Well, _I _had enough to pay off my half.

I escaped a breath of laughter, slightly rolling my eyes at her playfully and turned my head back around to face my desk. I had brought back so many relics and journals from Yamatai, I had barely taken my eyes off of them since we got back. There were theories to be typed out, and research to be done. Sam always bugged me about it, though, and liked to tell me that I spent too much time on them. But, they were all just so fascinating to me.

I had my laptop out with various tabs open on Chinese History that I had been researching, and a handful of pencils, paper, and tools laying around, making my desk look like a total wreck. I picked up my magnifying glass and hovered it over a coin relic that I had especially been interested in. Leaning down with my elbows pointed outward, I squinted my eyes as I gazed at the small object. Already, I had typed out a whole documented theory on this specific one, but I couldn't help but think there was something more to it.

"Lara!" Sam's voice startled me and I flinched more than I should have, then took a deep breath and closed my eyes when I realized it was just Sam and no one was going to attack me. "Did you hear me?" She asked, annoyance in her voice.

"Sam, don't you know not to scare me like that? You're lucky you weren't hovering over my shoulder or something or I would of-" I quickly spun around in my chair to face her but when I saw her expression I figured there was no use in continuing.

Sam had lowered the magazine to her lap, and her eyebrows were pressed together with her lips parted. The biggest brown eyes were popping out at me, looking disappointed.

I sighed. "What did you say?" I asked calmly, feeling a little bad for not paying attention to her.

Sam pursed her lips for a few moments. "I said when are you gonna give that up?"

Ofcourse, by now, I had been used to her telling me to put down my work, which I couldn't blame her for. But when you're the first person to ever _successfully _return home from searching for the the lost kingdom of Yamatai, you can't just pretend as if it never happened.

She must've taken my silence as a sign that I _wasn't _gonna put it down, then leaned back in the pillow as she raised the magazine back up to her face. "Seriously, you're just stressing yourself out over it."

"Oh, Sam," I said. "I can't be the _only _one who finds great interest in things that may not be appealing to the other person." I said it teasingly, clearly referring to her interest in clothes and partying.

She looked up at me and gave an 'oh please' look before looking back down. I could tell she knew that I was absolutely right, though. "Well, yeah, but you do know that only _I'm _allowed to do that, right?" A wide grin grew on her lips as she peeked at me from underneath her eyelashes.

Escaping a breath of laughter, I rolled my eyes at her but couldn't help returning the smile. "Sure thing, Sam."

Before I could turn back around, I heard her shift on the bed and sigh lightly. "At least take a break?" There was an innocent tone in her voice, and it made me grin because I knew she always used that tone on me.

"Alright," I began, a heavy sigh in my voice. "What do _you _suggest we do?" I craned my neck to the side and folded my hands in my lap as I watched her.

She sat up completely, and then looked up at the ceiling, twisting her mouth in all directions. My eyebrows raised as I waited for her to answer. "We could go out?"

"No." I said bluntly, and spun around to face my desk.

She groaned. "Come on, Lara." The bed creaked and I could hear her getting off of it from behind me. "It's Friday night, and you're telling me you just wanna sit in that desk for the rest of it?"

I craned my neck over my shoulder as I heard her start walking around behind me. "_Well_, with the occasional getting-up-for-a-snack, but, other than that... yes." My gaze returned to my laptop, before I saw Sam's figure approach me in the corner of my eye. I stopped and folded my arms in front of my chest.

She put a hand on the back on my chair. "Listen, I know all this Yamatai stuff is pretty cool, but can't you just enjoy a night out with your best friend for once?"

I laughed. "Sam, you make it sound so terrible."

"Okay, maybe I do." Her admittance made me smile. "But, really." She finished.

I didn't look up at her and just stared at a spot on the desk before she spoke again. "Besides," She lowered herself on her knees and gripped the end of the desk, resting her chin on it. "You owe me."

I supposed she was right. It was easy to list all of the times I had taken down one of her offers, but it was also easy to list when I hadn't. Either way, it had been weeks without some good quality time with Sam that I knew she craved, and so did I.

With her face basically level with mine now, I couldn't help but look at her. She was basically giving me the puppy eyes.

"There's this new bar that I'd really like to go to." Her voice was slightly softer now. "I hear they have great cocktails." As I leaned back in my chair, I watched her desperate attempt to persuade me, which I found hilarious. She could probably tell I was actually considering it because her face started to light up. "Martinis..." She uplifted her voice and dragged the last syllable. _That _made me laugh.

"Alright, alright. I'll go." I held up my hands in defeat, and Sam immediately stood up and started squealing.

I watched her run into the bathroom as I stood up, much slower than she had. Adjusting my clothes, I lightly tugged the hem of my cargo pants and pulled down my tank top over it. I could hear Sam moving things around in there and I began to move toward the bathroom. My hand pointlessly raised to my forehead at her squealing excitement, but it was still pretty amusing to watch.

Before I could take a few steps, she raced out of the bathroom which made me step back a bit at the suddenness of it. I don't think she noticed.

"So, I heard this place is like, really fancy. But, you can step out of your comfort zone for one night, right?" She said as she brushed by me, a smirk on her face.

I made a sound, a grin plastered on my face. "Do I really have a choice?"

"Nope." She started foraging through the drawers of her dresser on the other side of the room. "Oh, my God." Sam began as she continued to dig through her clothes. Some pieces were even falling over the edge of the drawer and she didn't notice. "You _do _know this means I get to dress you up, right?"

Without thinking about it too much in the moment, I was aware that was something I rarely let her do, and I also knew it made her happy, so I shrugged. "I suppose that's fair."

Sam giggled at my reply, pure happiness written all over her. "Wow," She said. "You're feeling _generous_ today, aren't you?" To be honest, I was. She turned around to face me with a handful of colorful attire draped over both her arms. "Better take advantage of that." She walked over to the bed and dropped them on the mattress.

Stepping closer, I scanned the clothing from where I was, before Sam picked up a couple of them and held them up to her body. "Okay," She said, looking down at them. "Which one should I go with?"

I observed the dresses while she puckered her lips at me and did weird eyebrow movements, posing a few times. One of them was a strapless light beige color with a thick black belt around the waist. I remember seeing her wear that when we went to a party once last year. The other was a dark blue with tight long sleeves.

I made a face at them, scrunching up my nose. She took that as a 'no' to both of them but nearly showed no reaction, and simply grabbed two more from the bed. "Wait, that one is..." She mumbled to herself, switching one of them out for another. I giggled at her, and she was too busy picking dresses to notice.

Her head swiped to the side as she straightened herself up again and flicked the hair out of her face. She was now holding a high-neck, sleeveless yellow dress and a strapless, tiny black one. My eyes immediately focused on the second one, though. She must've noticed because she looked down at it, too.

"Sam, that thing is tiny!" I gestured to it, disbelief in my tone.

She took a second look at it. "Awesome!" She said, and dropped the yellow one back on the bed next to her. "This one it is, then." She quickly glanced at me with a proud smirk on her face.

Sometimes, I just couldn't believe that girl.

I escaped a breath of laughter as I turned my body to watch her strut past me again, carrying the dress with her. My eyebrows nearly raised to my hairline. It's not like I didn't expect that coming from Sam, anyway.

Now, she was scouring through the closet behind me. _Wow, _I thought. She really had clothes everywhere. Watching the back of her, I waited for what she was planning to pull out of there. "I have just the dress for you." She said.

"Oh, God." I braced myself and turned away, raising my chin to the ceiling as I positioned my hands on my hips.

When I had turned back around, I was suddenly welcomed with a garment to the face, surprising me and making me flinch, before it fell into my hands. I blew the loose strands of hair out of my face and looked up to see Sam had already traveled to the bathroom again. Her eyebrows jerked, gesturing for me to look at it. I watched her for a few moments then unfolded it and held the garment out in front of me.

My eyes were met with a short and slim looking, bright red dress that was almost as tiny as the black one, but at least this one had straps. I gaped at it. Looking over through the open bathroom door again, Sam was smirking at me as she began sliding out of her clothes.

I drew my attention back to the dress. It really _was_ pretty, but I never imagined in a million years anyone would catch me wearing something like it, even me.

I really didn't know what to say. I definitely didn't want to disappoint Sam by saying I wasn't going to wear it. She must've really wanted me to since she said she had the dress 'just for me'. Then I realized that I actually had never seen her wear this one before.

Sighing, I dropped the dress and began pulling down my cargo pants where I was standing, then crossed my arms and pulled my tank top over my head. Placing my hands on my hips, I stared at the dress at my feet one last time. I couldn't believe I was actually about to go out in public in one of Sam's skimpy partying dresses.

"Looking good, Lara." Sam's voice startled me, and I turned my head to see her slyly leaning against the bathroom door frame, wearing the dress.

The sight of her in it caught me off guard. Ofcourse I had seen her in less than that, but man, she looked sexy. I could say that black was her color. The hem of it only reached to her mid-thighs, and it was so tight I could actually see all of her curves. Since her hair was short, and the dress was strapless, I could also see the creases of her breasts. _Push-up, _I thought.

I chuckled, standing there in only my bra and underwear. "I haven't even put the dress on yet."

"Too bad." She teased.

I shook my head. "Thank you for that very perverted comment, Sam." I bent down to slide myself into the dress.

"Oh, please. I'm not even drunk, " She paused. "yet."

Once the dress was on, I immediately felt awfully _bare_, and it was insanely tight. I wondered how Sam managed to wear these sorts of clothes all the time.

While I was pulling down the hem and adjusting the straps, my eyes glared over at Sam who was leaning over the bathroom counter watching herself in the mirror as she touched up her eyeliner. It made a grin tug on the ends of my lips.

I sighed, then made my way over to the full-size mirror on the other side of the room. As I approached it slowly, I took a deep breath, before standing completely into the frame and stopping in my tracks. I barely even recognized myself. Just like Sam's, the dress fit tightly around my body, and it was such a bright red color that I was sure it would make me stand out in a public place. I could see the dramatic curve in my waist, and I absentmindedly started rubbing my palms on my hips. Swallowing, my hands soon moved up to my chest where I tried to pull the dress up as far as it could go so my cleavage wouldn't show so much. I felt so different, but in a way, I liked it.

The sound of high heels were clicking on the hardwood floor somewhere behind me, but I couldn't take my eyes off my reflection. Soon, I saw Sam in the mirror as she approached me. I watched her expression intently: she was smiling, and she looked absolutely pleased.

"So," She said softly. "What do you think?"

I chuckled nervously as I tried to think of an answer, still watching in the mirror. "Sam, it's..." I finally turned my body and looked over at her. "It's great." I said, nodding. That was all I could think of in the moment, but I really was happy with it. Sam was still smiling excitedly after my dull reply, which relieved me.

I noticed that she was almost taller than me now that she was wearing shimmering silver stilettos and was standing awfully close to me. Soon, she held up a lipstick bottle that I didn't know she had been holding, and twisted it until the red stick peeked out. "Okay," She began, flicking the hair out of her face. "Pucker up."

Following her instructions, I let her apply it to my lips. "Just as a final touch, you know." Sam knew I had never been too big on makeup, and I was glad she considerately didn't insist on giving my face a full makeover too.

Her face was so close to mine now. I watched her as she slightly raised her chin, clearly concentrating on what she was doing. I had only worn lipstick a few times in my life if I was going to a wedding or something. She then began patting around my lips with her middle finger a couple times, then stepped back to get a full look. "There." She said proudly. "Now, you look _almost _as good as I do." She joked and made me giggle. "You're gonna make so many heads turn tonight, Lara." I realized I was never used to compliments, and Sam was actually making me feel very good about myself.

Gripping my arm, she leaned use further into the frame of the mirror as she looked at our reflections. "Wow," She sounded shocked. "We look _hot._" I observed the sight of the lipstick on me now. The color matched my dress almost perfectly. Sam had always been good at that stuff.

I was once again completely dumbfounded, but when Sam pushed off of me and headed toward the door I snapped back into reality. I stood there for a few moments, watching her, before I followed. I didn't notice earlier that the back of her dress was open, exposing the entire middle of her back. I could see the crease of her spine. The opening had strings of fabric crossing over top of each other. I decided that was the final thing that could make that dress show any more skin.

She had pulled out a pair of one of her high heel shoes from the closet by the door and handed them to me. "Here, you can wear these. They'll look great with your dress, trust me." She turned around to collect her keys on the table.

"Thank you." I said, looking down at them. Although they were only pure black, they looked awfully expensive. I felt a little bad that Sam was letting me wear all of her fancy stuff, or maybe I just wasn't used to it. Pursing my lips, I then leant a hand on the wall next to me as I somehow successfully put them on my feet. I could hear her keys jingling somewhere around me.

Sam turned around to face me again, sighing gleefully. "You ready?" She asked me with a wide grin, before looking down at the shoes on my feet. I noticed and followed her gaze, wondering if there was something wrong. "Okay, I'm kinda regretting giving you all of my best things." She joked. "At least leave one guy for me."

"No promises." I chuckled to myself then soon followed her out the door, tripping on my shoes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

When we walked into the pub, I was immediately welcomed with the sound of pounding bass music and awfully loud chatting of every person around me.

"Wow, this place is even better than I thought it would be." Sam said next to me as we both gaped around the entire room. It was _huge. _There was a lounging area to the right and I could see the bar in the back left corner. Every wall was designed with dark stone and marble. It looked expensive.

"Yeah, no kidding. You definitely weren't lying when you said it was going to be fancy." I raised my chin and saw a series of luminescent pot lights trailing wavy designs along the ceiling.

She giggled. "Oh, Lara. When do I ever lie?" It was hard to hear her over all the noise.

I leaned closer to her. "Get me a pen and paper and I'll list it, how about that?"

To get to the bar we had to shuffle ourselves through the crowd of drunk dancers and chatters. I ended up catching bits of a few of their conversations. Most of them were typical gossip, which only made me roll my eyes at them as I passed by.

Ofcourse, I had worked in a few bars in my life but they weren't nearly as elegant as this one had been. They were all small and sloppy where old washed up men went after a day of slacking off at home and ordering their wives around.

I was never too keen on big crowds, and the fact that I was freshly back from a cursed island full of murderers and technically being one myself, it was odd to see normal people again just out and about in their daily lives. It almost made me feel out of place.

While I was lost in thought, I didn't notice that I had been staring at people just as much as they were staring at me, until I heard Sam somewhere in front of me. "Excuse me, coming through." She called. To me, her voice seemed to stand out over everyone elses for some reason. I could feel her body brushing against mine as we walked.

There was so many people, but that I expected on a Friday night. We had just entered the building and I was already spotting a couple of middle-aged men watching me, who I avoided eye contact with.

Sam must've noticed my discomfort because she gripped my arm and leaned in closer to me. "Don't worry," She said. "It's gonna be fine." She was grinning at me with a very comforting expression, and admittedly it had made me feel a lot more confident. "We're gonna have a great time." She gave me one last teethy smile before lightly pulling me directly to the bar. "Come on, I really don't feel like standing in a pool of sweaty people."

"No argument there." I said, but I don't think she heard me over the noise.

"Just so you know, you're not ordering water tonight." Sam told me as we took a seat on the high stools. I immediately felt a lot less claustrophobic. There were less people here and it was quieter, as well. The area was impressively clean. There must have been about a hundred wine glasses hanging from the ceiling above us.

"Oh, so you already dressed me up all fancy and now I gotta accept your drinks, too?" I replied, half-joking and half-serious, but she just laughed at me.

_Wow_, I thought. Sam looked so beautiful when she laughed. Her face got all lit up and I thought the lights were hitting her perfectly where she was sitting. "Hey, it's not every day you let me do that."

I chuckled, knowing that her statement was completely true. I raised my eyebrows at her. "You must be special then." She had her chin resting on the back of her hand and was grinning at me when I saw her eyes focus behind me, making my head turn.

"What can I get you ladies to drink, tonight?" The bartender approached us from the other side of the counter as he twisted a rag into an empty glass. He was smiling at us, and he looked very friendly.

I opened my mouth to speak before Sam quickly interjected. She must've thought I was going to order water again. "Two cosmopolitans on the rocks." The bartender nodded and I creased my eyebrows at her. But, I had to admit I was impressed with her vocabulary. "Oh, but add a water back for her."

My eyebrows tightened, and I waited for him to turn around. "What is that?" I asked. I also didn't know why she had to special-order mine.

She smirked at me, clearly taking her time to reply. "Just a little something on me." She answered. "For my- may I add, _totally hot _best friend." She shook her shoulders a few times as she spoke.

I giggled. "That's not what I meant, but I accept the compliment."

"Don't worry, the water drains the alcohol." She said it so casually and I just stared at her for a few moments. "You'll like it." She nodded and scrunched her nose.

Shifting in my seat, I faced the counter and absentmindedly began fiddling with a ketchup bottle that was in front of me. "So, I assume this is me owing you for... what?"

The bartender came back with our drinks and they slightly slid on the marble counter. "There you are." He said.

The drinks were served in martini glasses with a slice of lime hooked on the rim of it. "Thanks." I noticed I said it rather quietly, making me feel self-conscious again for a moment.

I looked up at him from underneath my eyelashes and he smirked. "Enjoy."

The glass felt cold to my palm as I looked down at it in my hand. It was nothing more than a thick red color. When my gaze focused up again, I noticed Sam didn't hesitate to take a giant gulp of it already. The grin tugging on the ends of my lips was hard to resist.

I knew she was going to make me drink it, so I threw my head back after her and took a larger sip than I had planned to. The taste was tangy on my tongue, making me scrunch up my nose and lick my lips a few times as I looked down at it, then placed it back down on the counter.

Sam must've seen the whole thing because I could tell she was trying to hold in her giggles. "Good stuff, isn't it?"

"I suppose you've had it before?" I titled my head, although I asked it half-teasingly because I was certain I knew the answer.

She scoffed. "I've had just about every drink in every bar." She made it sound like it was something everybody should know, which was actually quite true.

As Sam took another careless gulp of her cocktail, I cleared my throat. "So, you didn't answer my question." I leaned forward on the counter, angled towards her.

She looked at me with her mouth still to the glass before lowering it. She licked her lips. "This is you owing me for being a total pain in the ass with your work." She started off as sounding serious, but I was a fool to think that would remain.

Chuckling, I leaned back in the stool with my hand still gripping my glass. "Okay, I admit," I told her. "Maybe I can be bit a bit of a pain sometimes." As I smiled at her, I saw Sam's eyes widen at my admittance. "_Sometimes._" I clarified.

My eyes began to trail around the room and it was difficult to not catch sight of the group of dancers a distance behind Sam. Most of the women were squealing way too loud for my liking, and everybody was spilling their beer without even noticing.

"Okay. On that note," Sam flicked her head to the side to swipe the hair out of her face. She picked up her glass. "I would like to thank the one and only: Lara Croft," I escaped a breath of laughter at her dramatic presentation of me. "for coming out with me tonight. _And," _She paused and I waited for what she could possibly say next. "for being surprisingly great to drink with."

I lowered my chin and raised my eyebrows at her statement, smirking, before clinking my glass against hers and taking a sip.

When I lowered it, I spotted an unexpected figure approaching next to us. It was a man approximately in his mid-20's with dark brown hair and clothed in a leather jacket. "Hey." He was smirking at me and had his hand in his pockets. The man had basically stepped directly in between Sam and I which made me slightly nervous.

"Hi," I greeted, trying to sound as friendly as I could. It was odd having somebody approach me who's intention wasn't to kill me, and that I had to resist the instinct of killing them first.

"Lara, right?" He emphasized the 'a'. "The archeologist?" The title he gave me caught me off guard. I never thought of myself as an archeologist before. How the hell did he know who I was?

My gaze trailed behind him to Sam who I could tell was trying hard to remain silent. She smirked at me as if purposely trying to make me even more nervous, and then took a drink without breaking eye contact with me.

I quickly looked back up at him. "It's Lara," I answered. "Do I know you?"

He chuckled, almost darkly. "I saw you on the news." That's right, I thought. My face had been everywhere since we got back home from the island, but I never had anybody recognize me before. It felt like he was mistaking me for somebody else, but he wasn't. "Yamatai, huh?" He continued but I couldn't manage an answer. "Totally badass." There was a snicker in his voice. No, actually, I thought. It was terrifying and bloody and deadly.

I just smiled and nodded.

"Can I get you anything?" He gestured to no where in particular.

I hadn't had many guys hit on me before and this one especially made me feel uncomfortable for some reason. It must have been the way he was looking at me. Surely, I couldn't have been the first girl he'd talked to tonight, anyway.

Without moving my head, my sight transitioned back to Sam and she dramatically winked at me, imitating him.

"Uh," I pursed my lips, smiling politely at him. "No, thank you." I raised my palm, hoping the gesture would shoo him away.

"Alright, then." I was hoping I didn't sound rude, but he was still grinning smugly at me. "See you around." A wave of relief rushed over me as he turned around and left. I watched him trot away for a moment before Sam leaned in to me as she burst into giggles.

"Holy shit." I said under my breath.

"Don't tell me you don't think that was insanely awkward." Sam said in between laughs. "Wait, don't answer that. The look on your face made it totally obvious."

I could feel my cheeks heating up. "Sam, if anyone makes anything obvious it's you." I teased.

We both angled ourselves at the man who was still in sight across the floor a distance away. He was chatting with a group of girls who just looked like wasted teenagers to me.

"I see he has no problem moving from one girl to the next." I commented, then looked over at Sam who was pouting her bottom lip and nodding, observing him. "Speaking of being obvious." I lightly smacked her on the arm.

"What? He's kinda cute." She admitted, pure guilt in her voice which made my eyes roll back.

"You think everybody's cute, Sam." I faced the counter and took a sip of my drink, before focusing back on Sam. I looked at her for a few moments. "You ready to get out of here?" I asked.

She held up her finger, then quickly gulped down the rest of her cocktail.

After we payed, Sam's phone rang right as we exited the pub and she began scrambling through her purse for her cellphone. "Hold on." She told me, then pressed it to her ear.

By what she was saying, I assumed Sam was talking to her dad. I could also hear his angry voice coming from the other side of the line, which was surprising because the volume level outside was barely different than it was in the pub.

We had parked across the street, and it made me wish he would've called once we were driving. I thought about dragging her toward the car but she sounded angry at her dad and I didn't want to get in the middle of that.

It was dark out, and I felt insanely uncomfortable with so many people hanging around outside the building. Mostly because the majority of them were completely drunk and I could see an alleyway filled with dark figures who were smoking directly to our right. I could smell it from where I was standing.

I watched a women who was a short ways down the street behind Sam get into a taxi that I heard her calling earlier. While I was looking around, a man who appeared to be in his late 30's began walking toward us and my heart rate started to speed up because he was making eye contact with me. I could hear Sam talking on the phone but couldn't seem to pay attention enough to know what she was saying.

Trying to avoid the man's gaze, he soon began to slow down as he got closer to me and mumbled something, but I couldn't hear him. My eyes widened before Sam noticed what he was doing and moved the phone away from her ear. "Hey!" She called angrily. "Back off, will you?" The two of them glared at eachother for a few moments before he defeatedly continued walking.

Relieved, I took a deep breath before looking closely at Sam. She had already returned to her phone call and looked as if nothing had just happened, which I was still shocked about. But then I thought, she must be used to things like that because she goes out so often.

Soon enough, Sam hung up the phone and stared at it in her hands while sighing deeply. I wanted to ask what her and her dad were arguing about, but decided against it. Instead, I just waited for her.

"Sorry about that." She apologized, and then put the cellphone back in her purse. She gripped my arm with both hands and I naturally put a palm on top of hers as we finally began walking toward the car.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

Sam and I sat in silence for the majority of the drive home. Mostly because we were both pretty tired and Sam had actually fallen asleep in the passanger seat next to me at one point, making me glad I volunteered to drive. It actually surprised me how tired she had been since she could usually pull an all-nighter no problem. She woke up as soon as we parked,though. Which, in a way, relieved me because I didn't need to do it myself.

When we walked through the front door of our apartment, I flicked on the light and threw the keys on the table while Sam took off her heels, already making her noticeably shorter.

"I'm gonna go shower." She told me, sounding absolutely drained. For a brief moment, I thought about taking one after her but I had already done it in the morning.

I realized she was carrying her shoes with her to the bathroom. "Don't fall asleep!" I called to her as she disappeared around the corner.

"Yeah, yeah." She faintly mumbled to me in reply and I giggled, soon taking off my shoes as well.

As I walked into the bedroom, I could hear her in the bathroom taking off all her jewelry and loudly placing them on the counter. I escaped a sigh of relief at the feeling of being able to walk on flat feet again. I glanced through the door and saw Sam already half-undressed and was taking all her makeup off. She didn't seem to notice me, though.

Before dropping my shoes on the ground, I lazily plopped myself down on the bed with my arms and legs stretched out completely. Immediately, a warm and comforting sensation rushed over me. I couldn't remember the last time I actually went out and enjoyed myself and managed it for more than one hour. If I had taken down Sam's offer tonight, I probably would have regretted it.

I still couldn't believe that I was safe now and nothing bad was going to happen. After all that time I spent on Yamatai, continuously worrying if my friends were okay and finding somewhere to duck in cover as arrows flew over my head, it would be an understatement to say I was relieved it was all over. I was always running from someone. Maybe I had begun to get used to it, I thought.

Sighing, I tried to rid of my thoughts as I craned my neck to peek at the alarm clock on the bedside table next to me. It read _11:22pm_.

Rubbing my palms over my eyes, I sank myself down into the mattress and closed my eyelids. The sound of the shower turning on was heard a short distance away. I thought about the guy who talked to me at the bar and said he saw me on the news. I was still shocked about it, and I wondered if that would ever happen again. Before the expedition, sure, I expected to see my name in a museum next to a relic that no one will remember when they left but I never imagined people would actually instantaneously know who I was. I just hoped they wouldn't treat me like a celebrity.

The fact that Sam had gone to shower and left me here in utter silence and solitude made me realize how many thoughts and worries I actually had stuck in my mind. I was thankful our night out had made me forget about all of it, though. For a little bit, at least.

I remembered I was still in my dress, then groaned as I pushed myself up off the bed. It was dark in the room, other than the bright light shining through the wide open bathroom door added to the dim one I had left on at the front.

Reaching behind me, I unzipped the back of my dress and suddenly I could breathe again. I pulled the slim straps off my shoulders and slid out of the garment completely, with less difficulty than I had expected. It was definitely much easier taking it off than putting it on. I was too exhausted to put my things away so I left the dress littered on the ground next to my shoes.

I strolled into the bathroom and stopped in front of the counter to pull out one of Sam's makeup wipes from one of the drawers. Faintly, I could hear her humming in the shower next to me and I also saw her pajamas neatly folded next to the sink. I brushed the hair out of my face and raised the wipe before catching sight of my reflection, instantly noticing how red the lipstick was. It stood out a lot more now that I wasn't wearing the bright dress with it.

I suddenly felt so much more like myself after I had cleaned off all the lipstick. I turned on the tap and let the water heat up for a few moments before holding my hands underneath the sink and splashing my face with the warm water, trying not to get Sam's clothes wet. As I took a deep breath, I leaned forward and rested my hands on the counter. I bit my bottom lip and absentmindedly began staring at the mirror. My face was dripping with water.

"Hey, Lara?" I felt my heart drop as Sam called loudly from inside the shower, which made me realize she didn't know I was in the room with her.

Trying to exhale and calm myself down, I purposely yelled back at her. "I'm right here!"

"Ow! Why do you gotta be so loud?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Can you pass me my towel?" She continued. After Sam had snapped me back to reality, I realized that the tap was still running so I turned the knobs until it stopped.

I gazed at the towel hanging next to me. "What's the magic word?" I asked her.

"Get me my towel?" She asked, although it was more like a demand. I heard the water turn off and it suddenly got so much quieter.

"Close enough." I said gently. I could feel drops of water trailing down my neck so I quickly dried my face with it and handed the towel to Sam's bare arm reaching out from behind the curtain.

She popped her head out and was holding the drape to her body, but I could still see the entirety of her bare shoulders and chest, making it hard to ignore. "Thank you..." The tone of her voice uplifted and trailed the syllables while she spoke, pretending to sound overly innocent.

I couldn't help but chuckle at her, though. "Mhmm." I mumbled in reply. Roaming back into the bedroom, I pulled out a pair of light pink pajama pants and a black t-shirt from the dresser in front of the bed. "You know, I'm starting to think you're never gonna get better at scaring the shit out of me." I told her. Even though I was joking, there was still a faint thought in the back of my mind about how paranoid I noticed I am now. It was making me feel crazy.

The rings of the shower curtain scraped against the bar as Sam stepped out. "If I did, you would miss it." She replied jokingly and I briefly glanced up at her with a grin on my lips. She was wrapped in the towel and I could see steam emitting from the bathroom.

I quickly draped the t-shirt over my torso and tugged my ponytail out the back of it. We stood in silence for a few minutes while the both of us put our clothes on. Now that I was in full comfort, I took a seat on the end of the bed and began fiddling with my fingernails while I started thinking again.

It was as if every time it went silent, I suddenly remembered everything that I hoped I had forgotten, but I didn't. I thought about how every time I'd walk into a new room or see a stranger, I'd instinctively start plotting in my head how I was going to hide or how I was going to kill them, and how the simplest things made me almost have a heart attack. I also thought about people recognizing me. I wondered if they would hate me for what I did on Yamatai. Roth, Alex, and Grim were all dead. Every time I thought about them, I couldn't help but think about how many people _I've _killed, as well.

"Hey," For once, my heart didn't fly out of my chest when Sam spoke. In fact, I was actually thankful she did. "You okay?" She asked softly from somewhere behind me. God, her voice always made me feel so much better.

I craned my neck to look at her. She was standing in the bathroom door frame and was wearing nothing but a grey t-shirt that was way too big for her, and assumingly underwear, as well. The t-shirt lengthened down to her mid-thighs and the sleeves almost to her elbows. It was odd seeing her in a short, skin tight dress all the way to an over-sized, baggy t-shirt in one night.

"Yeah," There was a heavy sigh in my voice. "Just thinking." I said.

She slowly began walking towards me, her hand gently pushing off the door frame. "About?"

I didn't take my eyes off of her and pursed my lips, not saying anything.

"Okay, just asking." Sam raised her hands in defeat and hunched her shoulders.

I felt the mattress sink in as she sat behind me on the bed, but I didn't look at her. The fresh shower scent beaming off of her smelled of mango butter, which I knew was her favorite. It secretly made me excited to go to sleep with that smell next to me.

It was hard not to feel bad for not telling Sam what I was thinking, although I assumed she knew, anyway. She had been telling me for as long as I remember how I feel sorry for myself and other people way too much, which I assumed was the case. It relaxed me a little bit.

There was a mirror on top of the dresser directly in front of me, and I watched our reflections as Sam crawled toward me. It made me realize that she must've noticed my uneasiness, and I wished she hadn't. Sam transitioned onto her knees and comfortingly put both her hands on my shoulders.

I stayed completely still. There was so much I wanted to say, but I couldn't seem to manage a word.

"Relax." She said quietly, and her voice soothed me again. I could almost feel her breath on my neck as she spoke. It was always as if Sam could read my mind, and I didn't like it. The fact that she said that meant that she already knew what was wrong. Maybe I needed to work on hiding things more often, I thought.

I sighed. "You know I always hate when you worry about me." I could feel the tiredness in my eyes, but I didn't seem to want to go to sleep either. A part of me just wanted to stay up all night with her and pour out every last thought that had been stuck in my mind for what felt like forever.

"I know." Her tone was just above a whisper. Ofcourse she did.

"Ever since we got back from Yamatai," I paused, wondering if Sam even wanted to hear this. But she just remained silent and waited for what I was about to say. "I just feel..." I searched for the right word. "Sad."

I watched Sam's expression in the mirror carefully. Her hands remained on my shoulders. I didn't want her to take them off. "I can't seem to just look at someone without..." Honestly, I didn't know what I was trying to say. Glancing at Sam again, her expression somehow told me I didn't have to continue.

My nose started to tingle and I could feel my eyes watering, wishing it would all just go away. I felt so terrible for dumping all of it on her, even though it wasn't much at all. But, I needed her to know, and I needed to let it out.

After my parents died, Roth looked after me. Nobody else. I hadn't actually realized it before, but now that he's gone, it's just me and Sam.

The fact that she wasn't saying anything made me wonder if maybe she didn't care or was just waiting for me to say more. "Sorry," I apologized, and her grip on my shoulders immediately tightened.

"Lara," She said. "Don't apologize. Really." She always told me that.

Sam must've taken my silence as a hint that I didn't want to say any more, so her hands soon trailed up to my hair and she began playing with it.

That was the thing I loved most about her. Even if what I was telling her didn't make sense, she would still listen and do her best to help. The fact that she remained quiet and let me speak made me nervous, but also comfortable, because then I was completely open to say whatever I wanted.

It felt like hours had passed with just Sam fiddling with my hair and me watching us in the mirror. I liked it, though. Her fingertips gently tickled my neck, and I thought about how the silence was only peaceful when Sam was with me.

Her hands stopped for a moment and I watched her slightly lean forward as she peered at me. "You know what you need?" I didn't say anything. "I think..." Her hands began to fidget with my hair again. "...that you need to think a little a less, and maybe," She was speaking very slowly, and I saw her hand grip the root of my ponytail. "_Let loose _a little more."

As Sam slowly tugged on the elastic, I watched in the mirror and my hair soon cascaded out of its confinements, flowing around my neck and shoulders. It lengthened just above my waist, and I realized I didn't notice how long my hair was until I actually took the time to look at it now. The only reason I would let it down was to shower, and even then I didn't even glance at it. I stared in awe and could feel Sam grinning widely at me. Her hands gripped the sides of my arms as she leaned over my shoulder, gazing in the mirror as well.

Sam giggled softly next to my ear. "You look like a new Lara."

I bit my bottom lip and squinted slightly, absorbing what she had said. _A new Lara_, I thought.


End file.
